Updated at 8:30 p.m.: Revised to include O'Rourke's DeSoto Town Hall comments

Ted Cruz and Beto O'Rourke brought their Senate campaigns to North Texas on Tuesday, looking for support in a key battleground area that could determine the outcome of the race in November.

Cruz, the incumbent Republican, was at The Pantry in McKinney and Babe's Chicken House in Arlington, holding classic retail meet and greets, urging conservatives to support his re-election bid and stem the predicted blue wave that could propel Democrats and his rival.

O'Rourke was hosting big town hall meetings in Richardson and DeSoto, areas that offer him opportunities to woo persuadable voters, while mining the traditional Democratic base. His morning town hall in Richardson drew an estimated crowd of 2,500, with attendees spilling into overflow rooms.

Tuesday was the first time Cruz and O'Rourke campaigned at the same time in the same area. Historically, general election campaigns kick into gear after Labor Day, but Cruz and O'Rourke have been traversing the state at a torrid pace for much of the year. Cruz has been somewhat hamstrung in August because of his duties in Washington, while O'Rourke, a congressman from El Paso, is on recess and in the middle of a statewide campaign tour.

The contrast between the candidates is clear, with O'Rourke pushing progressive ideas and Cruz touting conservatism.

O'Rourke discussed the importance of the Dallas area Monday night, when he kicked off his North Texas swing at the opening of his campaign office in Dallas.

"It's not a sophisticated strategy. We're just showing up everywhere, every day," O'Rourke told The Dallas Morning News. "Polls have us down two points. The people are behind us. What I feel everywhere I go is, 'This is happening.'

"Folks are not focused on what divides us," O'Rourke said. "They are focused on things we can do."

Cruz told a Tarrant County crowd Tuesday that it's important to elect conservatives.

"North Texas grows 'em stout," he said of the local Republican ticket. "We are blessed to be among patriots."

Cruz in Arlington

A crowd of about 250 people came see Cruz in Arlington — about the same as the number who showed up at his earlier restaurant stop in McKinney. Cruz has recently focused on retail spots. Last month, he campaigned at a Dallas barbecue restaurant and a barber shop.

In Arlington, the 2016 runner-up for the GOP presidential nomination, boasted that Republicans, led by the White House and Congress, had kept their promises to cut taxes, promote regulatory reform and appoint conservative judges.

"It is amazing just how many of those priorities we've been able to deliver on," Cruz said.

He said the country is in an era of prosperity.

"Nationally we have the lowest unemployment in decades," he said. "The Texas economy is booming. When you lower taxes and reduce regulations, the Texas economy thrives."

Cruz conceded that Republicans had not fully repealed and replaced the Affordable Care Act, which he called Obamacare.

"Even in that, it is worth noting we did come together to repeal the Obamacare individual mandates," he said. "Now we need to go ahead and finish the job and repeal that train wreck of a bill."

Cruz also alluded to the fervor that his opponent is generating. Two polls released Aug. 1 showed O'Rourke gaining ground.

A Texas Lyceum poll showed a statistical dead heat, with Cruz ahead 41 percent to 39 percent, well within the margin of error of plus or minus 4.67 percentage points, which means that either could be ahead. And a Quinnipiac University Poll put Cruz leading 49 percent to 43 percent. A May 30 survey from the same pollsters showed Cruz ahead by 50 percent to 39 percent, meaning the Democrat has cut the incumbent's lead nearly in half.

Money also has poured into the race, the costliest Senate contest in the nation. In the second quarter of 2018, O'Rourke raised $10.4 million, compared with Cruz's $4 million. And O'Rourke has raised $10 million more than Cruz overall.

"We're about 90 days out from the election and we've got a fight on our hands," Cruz said, adding that turning out "freedom-loving Texans" would keep the state "bright red."

"The biggest danger is complacency," he said. "The danger is if too many of us stay home."

During the question-and-answer period in Arlington, Cruz blasted O'Rourke as a liberal who doesn't reflect Texas values, saying his rival opposes building a wall to keep people from illegally crossing the southern border, favors government-sponsored health care, supports gun control and wants to impeach President Trump.

O'Rourke in Richardson

At the Richardson Civic Center, O'Rourke told the crowd that it was up to all Texans to move the state forward. He said Texas could be the leader in rewriting the country's immigration policy, providing quality and efficient health care for veterans and developing a "world-class education for every child in every community in this country."

Beto O'Rourke, Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, spoke at a rally at the Richardson Civic Center in Richardson on Tuesday.

(Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)

Beto O'Rourke, democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, speaks at a rally at the Richardson Civic Center in Richardson, Texas on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018.

(Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)

Beto O'Rourke, democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, speaks at a rally at the Richardson Civic Center in Richardson, Texas on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018.

(Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)

People applaud for Beto O'Rourke, democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, during a rally at the Richardson Civic Center in Richardson, Texas on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018.

(Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)

Beto O'Rourke, democratic nominee for U.S. Senate, speaks at a rally at the Richardson Civic Center in Richardson, Texas on Tuesday, Aug. 14, 2018.

(Rose Baca/Staff Photographer)

"It's going to take all of us," he said. He later told the crowd: "No pressure, Richardson, the country is counting on us, and we cannot fail her right now."

O'Rourke said it was important to spend $10,000 a year per child on early childhood education, and that the price tag would be cheaper than the $22,000 spent per adult prison inmate.

"The school-to-prison pipeline must be dismantled," O'Rourke said.

Tuesday evening at DeSoto High School, O'Rourke hosted a town hall exclusively on education, a crucial issue for the teachers and retired educators scattered across the crowd of 400. He slammed standardized testing as weakening the strength of Texas public schools and failing to accurately assess how well teachers are teaching the next generation.

"I have yet to meet a teacher who doesn't want to be held accountable, and I have yet to meet a teacher who doesn't want to do a better job in the classroom," O'Rourke said. "Teachers want an investment in their classrooms, and not just in the decorations and the supplies -- though that wouldn't hurt -- but for somebody to come in and sit in that class and see where that teacher is doing some amazing work."

At DeSoto High, where 97 percent of students are minorities, O'Rourke criticized the racial inequality in schools. On average, he said African-American and Hispanic children will start their first day of kindergarten 10 months behind in math and 12 months in reading, calling for universal pre-kindergarten for every child.

In Richardson, he suggested that Texas should lead the nation in criminal justice reform, telling the crowd that other states were being proactive in legalizing drugs like marijuana.

"Who's going to be the last black man to be behind bars in Texas for something that's legal in the rest of the United States?" O'Rourke asked. "We need to end the war on drugs that's become a war on people."

About 2,500 people pour into Richardson Civic Center for @BetoORourke town hall, where he challenges them to help Texas lead in immigration reform, delivery of quality health care, education. pic.twitter.com/yziOmKxPJ8

O'Rourke spent much of his Richardson speech bemoaning the Trump administration's decision to separate children from their parents after the families crossed into the U.S. illegally at the southern border.

"Even though we've been able to unite many of them, the damage has been done," O'Rourke said. "The cruelty has been inflicted."